Unlike the Yankees, the Mets Definitely Do Not Have a Ban on Facial Hair; New Season, New Hairdo

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price ignited quite the hullabaloo last week when he suggested that he wouldn't play for the Yankees because of the organization's policy outlawing facial hair.

That's OK, though: He could always come play for the Mets—a refuge for the scruffy, the hairy and the unkempt.

New York's other, less decorated franchise would welcome Price even if he came to spring training looking like a member of ZZ Top. The Mets allow beards, goatees, muttonchops, soul patches and any other ridiculous style a player could possibly imagine. (Some of those styles would be better left to the imagination.)

As a result, a large portion of the Mets' roster takes advantage of the team's acceptance of the furry and fuzzy by constantly toying with their 'dos—both on their heads and on their faces.

Why? Because they can.

"You need to keep people on their toes," said outfielder Matt den Dekker, who grew out his hair this off-season and often alternates between short and long. "You don't want to give them one look for too long."

ENLARGE

Bobby Parnell
Associated Press

More

A large group of Mets players arrived in Florida this spring with new—sometimes radically different—looks. Relief pitcher Bobby Parnell grew a thick, bushy beard, while infielder Justin Turner paired his flowing, surfer-dude locks with a flame-red beard of his own (Parnell described the look as a "lion's mane"). Outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis let his hair grow long again after buzzing it all off last summer.

For a young team like the Mets, the interest in hair makes sense. The team prohibits beards for its minor-leaguers but relaxes the rule at the major-league level.

"It's our way of saying, 'Hey, I'm in the big leagues,'" said bearded pitcher Dillon Gee, who came to camp last season with a gargantuan goatee dangling from his chin. "You've been told to be clean-shaven for so long that you want to do something different. It's a way to reward yourself."

A major-league baseball season is a long, tedious process, filled with mind-numbing rain delays, useless pitching changes and interminable commercial breaks. More than athletes in any other sport, baseball players spend an inordinate amount of time standing around doing nothing and just waiting for something to break the monotony.

One might say that it is slow enough to watch hair grow. And in the Mets' case this spring, that sentiment would be remarkably accurate.

Parnell kept his beard in part because his grandmother told him she liked it. Gee tried the massive goatee and then ditched it for a traditional beard, he said, because "I get bored with things." Turner grew out his beard as a way to keep warm while visiting his girlfriend in Indiana during the winter, and stuck with it after receiving some compliments. He plans to keep it at least through the Mets' first road trip, which includes stops in cold-weather cities Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Denver.

"You have to make it fun," Parnell said. "We've got a long season. You're with the same guys all the time. You want to change it up and have a different look."

No player took that mantra to heart this off-season more than pitcher Daniel Herrera. He came to spring training last season with shoulder-length hair and never cut it as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery.

His mess of black hair eventually extended to around his chest. This winter, he shaved nearly all of it off—nearly a foot of hair—and donated it to Locks of Love, a charity that produces wigs for sick children.

When he returned to Florida, most of the Mets players didn't recognize him. Herrera said he "had to literally get two feet from their faces for them to know it was me." Nieuwenhuis said he did "a couple of double-takes." Gee said it took him "five looks" to figure out who Herrera was. "People were giving him weird looks, like, 'Who are you?'" Gee said.

All this seems to suggest that the Mets are the perfect landing spot for particularly hairy players in need of a home. Former San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson and his famously gigantic black beard is still available on the free-agent market. The Mets even watched him throw during the off-season.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.